The U.S. Virgin Islands have a rich history built on tension, multiple takeovers, and a continuing unclear political identity. Early History – An Unprofitable Archipelago
The first documented European visit to the Virgin Islands is that of Columbus’ 1493 arrival in his second voyage to the New World. Columbus landed on St. Croix and further explored St. Thomas and St. John. The archipelago of small islands, cays, and rocks reminded him of Saint Ursula and her 11,000 virgin martyrs who were murdered by Attila and the Huns, leading him to name the area the Virgin Islands.
The Spanish quickly pushed the natives out of the islands, while enslaving some to work the mines of the Greater Antilles and others to guide them around the Caribbean. The island of St. Croix was the only one of the three that saw colonization during the 1500s. In 1625, the English and Dutch took possession of St. Croix and the island would later be settled in part by the French. Conflicts between the British and the Dutch saw the French side with the Dutch and leave the British the sole claimants to St. Croix. Spanish forces from Puerto Rico would oust the British in 1650. The French then ousted the Spanish and took control of St. Croix, which would never be profitable to them. The island passed through the hands of several other companies, who also found the colony unprofitable. St. Croix was abandoned in 1696.
The Danish West India Company then established a charter which aimed to occupy St. Thomas. The Danes made quick use of the African slave trade to start farming the island. Denmark then sought to expand to St. Croix for more arable land during a drought in the 1720s. France sold the abandoned island for political leverage with Denmark. The contingency was that Denmark could not sell the islands without the permission of the French government. Following more unprofitability, the islands were transferred to direct jurisdiction of the king.
The conditions and treatment experienced by the slaves led them to a revolt on St. John in 1733 after a long drought and a hurricane. The revolt allowed 150 slaves to take control of the island until 1734.
Sugar farming then drove the islands’ economy under the Danish crown. Cotton, indigo, and tobacco were also cash crops and all relied heavily on the slave trade. The British took control of the islands for two periods during the early 1800s during the Napoleonic Wars. As Denmark was an ally of Napoleon, the British saw it fit to prevent military action in the West Indies by invading the Virgin Islands.
By the 1800s, the slave trade was being abolished by a number of European governments, but the trade still persisted in the Virgin Islands due to heavy reliance on the practice. As the islands transitioned from agriculture to trade, slaves were then forced to work in the busy ports on the three islands. Under threat of destruction of the town of Fredericksted on St. Croix, the governor of Danish West Indies announced full emancipation of the enslaved on the islands. July 3 is now known in the U.S. Virgin Islands as Emancipation Day.
Working conditions and options still struggled to be sustainable after emancipation, which ultimately led to the 1878 St. Croix Labor Riot, in which Fredericksted and many other plantations were destroyed.
Negotiations of Sale – Fear Campaigns
With the abolition of slavery, the plantation and sugar industries collapsed. While the Danes saw massive losses from the islands at this point, the United States had newfound military interest in the islands. Negotiations to sell the islands began in 1866 and would not materialize until 1917.
Fears of annexation by Prussia and Austria led to a public referendum supporting a sale to the U.S., but Congress failed to ratify the sale before its deadline, likely in a move against Secretary of State William Seward’s support of President Andrew Johnson (D-TN) during his impeachment trial. In 1899, fears of a sale to Germany renewed American interests. A negotiation was met and Congress ratified the treaty in 1902. While the Lower House of Danish Parliament overwhelmingly supported the sale, the Upper House found itself in a deadlock, once again ending the transfer of the Virgin Islands to the U.S.
However, with the onset of World War I, American fears of German expansion into the Caribbean changed the urgency of the transaction. The U.S. saw a great strategic military point in the islands, especially in close proximity to the newly-completed Panama Canal.
After overwhelming votes from the publics of the Virgin Islands and Denmark, the United States officially took possession of the islands on March 31, 1917, ending 250 years of Danish rule and resulting in the first and only territory of the U.S. to be obtained through sale.
The American Period – An Ambiguous Identity
Today, the Virgin Islands celebrates March 31 as Transfer Day. In 1920, Virgin Islanders were said to have “American nationality,” but were not considered American citizens. Most residents were granted U.S. citizenship in 1932. The islands remained under direct control of the U.S. government until 1968, when residents were first allowed to elect their own governor. This was followed by their right to elect a non-voting delegate to the U.S. House in 1972. Like in the other four territories, the U.S. Virgin Islands can elect a non-voting delegate to the House. This delegate can sponsor legislation and sit on committees but cannot cast floor votes. In 1976, President Ford (R-MI) signed a bill that allowed the islands to organize their own government and establish their own constitution. Four constitutional conventions have failed: 1972, 1979, 1981, and 2009. The Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands from 1954 remains the islands’ definition of their government to this day.
Geography – America’s Paradise
The U.S. Virgin Islands are made up of three main islands.
1. St. Thomas – Nicknamed “Rock City,” the largest island by population – about 42,000 people – and home to the territory’s capital, Charlotte Amalie. Home to industries of tourism, service, and trade, the island accounts for 60% of the Virgin Islands’ GDP and about half of total civilian employment. Cruise ships and major airlines have connections to St. Thomas. Charlotte Amalie is also the birthplace and childhood home of Frasier’s Kelsey Grammer.
2. St. Croix – Nicknamed “Twin Cities’’ for the cities Fredericksted and Christiansted, the largest island by area and second-largest in population. St. Croix is the southernmost island of the USVI, sitting forty-two miles south of St. Thomas and St. John. Originally the agricultural powerhouse of the USVI, farming has been problematic after multiple devastating hurricanes swept across the islands over the last several years.
3. St. John – The smallest island by area and population – about 4,000 people – more than 60% of the island is protected by the federal government as the Virgin Islands National Park. The economy is mostly based on tourism.
Interestingly, the U.S. Virgin Islands is the only United States territory that drives on the left side of the road.
Current Political Leanings – A Democratic Stronghold
The Virgin Islands do not participate in presidential elections; however their party primaries are marquee elections across the islands. With a requirement of a majority vote in elections, the Virgin Islands have utilized ranked-choice voting before Maine and Alaska put the systems into play. Lowest vote-receiving candidates are eliminated and the votes for said candidates are transferred to voters’ second choices on those ballots until a candidate receives a majority.
The U.S. Virgin Islands is overwhelmingly Democratic in nature, mainly in part of a largely ineffective Republican Party for much of its modern political history. The GOP has failed to engage in competitive gubernatorial elections in over thirty years, and Democrats have held large majorities in the territorial legislature for just as long.
Currently, Democrats have eleven seats in the fifteen-seat unicameral legislature. Independents have the other four seats. The third-party Independent Citizens Movement (IC) has held seats in the legislature recently, but currently have no power in the islands. The party advocates for more autonomy for the USVI.
The first elected governor of the islands was Melvin Evans (R), who was first appointed to the role in 1969 and elected in 1970. Melvin then went on to serve as the first and only Republican delegate to the House from 1979 to 1981. He won the 1978 election by a thin 52%-48% margin. He was defeated for re-election in 1980.
Republicans last held the governorship from 1995 to 1998 with Roy Schneider (R). Only Democrats and one Independent have held the office since. The current governor is Albert Bryan (D), who won the 2018 runoff against then-Governor Kenneth Mapp (I). Bryan won St. Thomas and St. John, while Mapp won St. Croix, winning overall by eleven points. Bryan was re-elected in 2022 and won the same two islands, but won the election by a much more decisive eighteen-point margin.
The current delegate to the House is Stacey Plaskett (D). Born in New York to Virgin Islander parents, Plaskett built a career as a prosecutor and even landed an appointed position by George W. Bush (R-TX) in the Justice Department. Plaskett also worked for then-Deputy Attorney General James Comey. Comey would later serve as Director of the FBI. Plaskett moved to the Virgin Islands in 2007 and opened a private practice and switched to the Democratic Party in 2008.
Plaskett was elected as the Virgin Islands’ delegate in 2014 by a 91% margin. She ran unopposed in 2016 and 2018, and received 88% of the vote over an Independent in 2020. Plaskett was unopposed in 2022.
Long influenced by the throes of multiple governments, financial hardships, and ambiguous political lines, the U.S. Virgin Islands continues to discover its identity as a territory, as disagreements in Washington and at home continue to stymie the creation of its own constitution.
